Here's a picture of Alan Daum's "Illution" GTO running at Pueblo, I drove the car for Alan a few times back in the later 70's, Alan passed away a few years ago, He was the NHRA Division 5 photographer during the 70's and 80's...he sure loved drag racing.
Here is a couple more Colorado cars... The red dragster I bought from Jim Rodabaugh in Thornton, cool old car originally from New Mexico. The altered is me running at the Mile High Nationals in 87, the car was the former "Assassintaion" Monza. The other picture was Larry Higinbotham (Left) and me on the right with Larrys Cuda Funny Car the "Girl Watcher" former Guzman & Dekker Cuda
I am surprised that no one has mentioned Dan Widner, he was the original owner of the Kaiser bros. T/F car, and campaigned it extensively before passing the car to Tommy and Jr. He also owned Widner Automotive, 2 stores in Colo. Spgs., and 1 in Pueblo. Dan passed away in Nov. of 09. He was the real deal.
What ever happened to the "Assassination" guys? Are they still around? Guzman, Dekker,Ward They used to come to Thunder Valley in South Dakota a couple times a year up till the early 80s. The last car I saw was a Plymouth Arrow body. Those guys were first class and ran hard! My favorite AA/FC
Is this Erie drag strip now. Posted on page 3. My parents met there in the late 60's. My uncle raced a Studebaker their in Q/stock
Art Ward died several years ago...I attended his funeral, staged at Bandimere, with his ex-wife. They loaded Art's ashes in the chute of a Top Fuel dragster (whose eludes me at this time) and actually lit the tree...about a 1/4 way down the track, the chute was opened and Art will forever be part of drag racing and Bandimere's track. R-
I was stationed at Ft. Carson in Colo. Sprgs. I use to race my stock '68 El Camino at Pueblo on the weekends in the bracket class. I use to go with the guys from Laniers Speeed Shop run by Lanier Henry who is still there I believe. Late '80's. He was on Pinks All Out with his blown '55 Chevy.
my dad was the lead tech at Northglenn Dodge in the 70s. I remember him sitting at the kitchen table with a scale, file and piston assemblies balancing them. He built most of the Guzman hemis for many years. He has told me he built 2 different speced motors. One to qualify and one to race and they would do 4 motors per race. I spent a lot of time in the shop there as a kid. When they finished paving the parking lot behind the showroom where the body shop is now they rolled the funny car out of the shop minus the body. My dad put me in his lap and dry hopped it across the lot. I was pretty young then but recognize a lot of the names mentioned. If anyone has any info on how to contact Guzman my dad would like to give him a call.
That was my car. well Karl Krummel and me actually. karl bought the car from dan widner in late 1970, it was supposedly the last front motor car that Mark Williams biult, and he drove it some before selling to Widner. We ran it as an A/FD in Pro Comp, best ET and MPH 7.65 @ 179, and usually got beat up on by Ed renck, Wayne McMurtry, Brian Raymer, et al. sold the car to dan wardlow in 1993 or 94 i think.
That is a picture of my brothers C/D pulling the front wheels and not painted yet. It was called "Home Brew"! "Wasn't anybody there except me and little skeet"
Well Lanier is still there, you ought to go say Hi. I wish I could, it's a little more complicated for me.
Yeah, that was a GREAT site & had catalogued a lot of hot rod history. The miserable fink that owns the site took it down for some unknown reason. He won't let anyone take over the site or pay the costs to re-open it. The guy is not a "miserable fink"!! He spent thousands of hours building that site. Then some a**hole invaded it and destroyed all of his work. It devistated him and he just threw in the towel. Too bad....that was the best collection of Colorado Racing History ever assembled.
Here is my brother beating the gassers with his straight eight buick back in the 60's. Running out of Fort Morgan, Colorado
The Jalopy Journal
